One Half of the Year Gone… Whats your Favorite read in ’09 to date?

My question today is, 6 months in…. what is the best book you have read so far this year? It doesn’t have to be a new release. It can be new or old. If you are a book blogger and have reviewed this book, please leave a link so we can see your review. I am looking for name of book, author, and maybe a line or two about the book.

Lets make this fun – I will take responses on this from now until August 16. Then I will do a random drawing from the comments for a $15 Gift Card to Amazon.

*Book Bloggers: You can earn a bonus chance to win by linking the book review (Jan – July 09) to this post and add the meme that I have put on this post to your post. Leave me a comment here with the link.

I honestly can not choose just 1.. I have 3, I just recently finished them and I love them. The first one would have to be the book that I just finished called Italian for Beginners by Kristine Harmel. Here is the link:

My second is Dark Hunger by Rita Herron. This book was just mind blowing. It was a romance and a paranormal suspense all in one book. It was just awesome! Here is my review with a link back to this post:

And my 3rd is The Time Traveler’s Wife. I am really excited about the movie. And this book was written so well. The way it skipped from Henry to Clare and the time kept changing. I loved it.. And it is not my normal read. :)

Wow, this is a really hard one. Here are the four that stick out as the top, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, The Shack by William Young and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I would almost have to flip a coin but I guess The Shack would win. It moved me the most, made me want to read it again, and I have loaned it to so many people I am going to have to go buy another copy for myself! Of course, the other 3 are also off on trips of their own.

I think my favorite book this year was probably Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner, or any of the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris. I have read a lot of good books, though, so I’m sure I’m forgetting something I really loved…

Wow, Sheila! That’s difficult…It’s kind of a toss-up between one I read a couple of months ago and the one I just finished. I love Joyce Maynard’s “Labor Day,” and just did a review of it on Amazon…later I’ll review it on one of my blogs.

But if I had to choose…I guess that it would be Elizabeth Berg’s “Home Safe,” about a woman whose husband unexpectedly dies, leaving her bereft…but the worst of it is, she is a writer with sudden writer’s block and somedays, she can barely get out of bed!

hmmm….This is hard. I can narrow it down to three. For some reason all three can be described as “post-apocalyptic” .

The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I know some were bothered by the harshness of the book, but I found the harshness only made the wonderfully loving relationship between the father and son stand out even more. That and the lyrical style is simple and elegant.

Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory. I reviewd the book for my blog though I did not post it unitl 8/2. I first read the book in Feb. and fell in love with it. I will post my review after this pharagraph. I loved it because of the interesting relationship between a human being and the “demon” possessing him. http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2009/08/pandemonium-by-daryl-gregory.html

The third book was The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard. It is the story of a man named Norman who is one of the few survivors of The Despair. A unexplained phenomenon that causes the vast majority of the planet to take their own lives. It to me was a love story more than anything else. The love of a man for his wife and the love of a man for his life and the life of others. The author is from MN as well and I love when someone from my home state writes something that is so compelling.

Earlier this year I read Wuthering Heights for the first time and was completely enthrawled by it. I could feel Catherine’s anguish and deep love for Heathcliff. I can’t believe I waited this long to read it. I loved it.

Hm Sheila, great question….I’d have to say Legacy by Cayla Kluver =) It just intrigued me and kept my attention, lately I’ve been a little bored with the material I’m reading….so hopefully another winner comes my way soon! ;P

When I checked my list of what I have read this year I have to say that ” The Sabbathday River ” by Jean Hanff Korekitz has to be the best book I’ve read. You can read a review on Amy’s blog http://considerationofbooks.blogspot.com/

Hi, I saw this question on Book Blogs. Really made me think. I’m going to try to pick a book that came out this year, because otherwise I’ll fall back on my perennial favorite “Gone with the Wind”, which is not really fair to the newer books. :)

I’d have to say it’s John C. Maxwell’s “Put Your Dream to the Test”, which I found very inspiring. I’d recommend it for a writer (or anyone, really) who needs a bit of motivation. Here’s the link to my review:

I agree with my mom wholeheartedly ” The Sabbathday River” was by far the best book I read this year. Even though the book is ten years old it’s a fresh and impulsive read that doesn’t let you go. I highly recommend it.

This is a hard one. I’ve read so many great books this year already. I really enjoyed Girl With a Pearl Earring. The Sidewalk Artist was so good that I wanted to read it again as soon as I finished it! My current read is also great – The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy (also my current giveaway). So many books, so little time!

Here’s my review + the meme. The review is really brief, because the book isn’t out yet and I didn’t want anyone killing me by revealing much of anything. You should check out the first book – The Hunger Games.

Mine is Revolutionary Road by Richard Ford. After seeing the movie, I was compelled to read the book. Although written in 1961, the book stands up well today. As a writer, I was impressed by his prose, not a clumsy word. I plan to read more of his work.

I’ve read through all the comments and added several books to my wishlist. I always like seeing what other people have loved in their reading.

I think my favorite read so far is The Story of Forgetting by Stephan Merrill Block. My review was posted Aug 2, but I finished it in July. It was written by a 24-yr-old and it shows so much insight and depth. The writing is beautiful and the characters so complete that I won’t stop thinking about them for a long, long time. I especially liked the old hunchback, Abel.

So hard to pick! It’s a three-way tie between Wanderlust by Ann Aguirre, Bad to the Bone by Jeri Smith-Ready, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. It’s really fun to read other people’s entries!

Didn’t do too much reading this year – school was so busy! Luckily, blogging has gotten me back into the habit of making time for reading. My favorite read so far has been Atwood’s The Robber Bride. It was absolutely delicious in every way. Her writing is so decadent – like a wonderful piece of chocolate cake. The descriptions are rich and fulfilling. They pull you into the book in new and exciting ways so that you become the characters – feeling their accomplishments and disappointments.